1. Color

2. Color
• Color is the visual effect that is caused by
the spectral composition of the light
emitted, transmitted, or reflected by
objects.

3. Color originates in light.
Sunlight, as we perceive it, looks colorless.
In reality, all the colors of the spectrum are present in
white light.

4. 1. All the" invisible" colors of sunlight shine on the apple.2.
The surface of a red apple absorbs all the colored light
rays, except for those corresponding to red, and reflects
this color to the human eye.3. The eye receives the
reflected red light and sends a message to the brain.

5. When light hits the
surface, the BLUE
paint ABSORBS all the
light EXCEPT the blue
part of the spectrum.

6. There is no pure blue.

7. If colored paints were actually pure
color- every time any two “pure” colors
of paint were mixed you would get
.................. ....
. . .. . ... ....
black.
The bits of blue in the blue paint would
........... ..... ..
.... .. ..
... ..
........ ..................
. . . .. .
.... ............ ...
..... . .. .. ... ...
.... ... .. ... ... ..
. ....
absorb the red and yellow light.
The bits of yellow paint would absorb
... .. .. .. ... ..
.......................... .
.........
.. . ...... . .
.... .. ...
the red and blue light.
No light would escape from the paint,
.. . ..
...
. . .. .... . .. and you’d see a perfectly black surface.

8. Itten Color Wheel

9. Color Bias Wheel

10. How to use the color bias wheel to
mix colors...

11. What happens when you mix complementary colors?
+
+
+

12. What happens when you mix complementary colors?
+
= a neutral
+ grey or
brown
+

13. Color Bias Wheel

14. make brightest
purple

15. make duller purple
because some blue
and orange are mixed

16. make dullest purple,
because blue is mixed
with orange and red
is mixed with green.

17. Color Bias Wheel

18. Properties of Color
•HUE
• VALUE
• INTENSITY (or saturation)

19. Properties of Color
• HUE - the name of the color, the part
of the color spectrum that the color
belongs to: Red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, or violet.

20. Itten Color Wheel

21. Local Color
• the natural color of an object
unmodified by adding light and
shadow

22. Local Color

23. Properties of Color
• VALUE - lightness or darkness of the
hue.

24. MUNSELL VALUES

25. “Normal” hues have different values.

27. Properties of Color
• VALUE - lightness or darkness of the hue.
• adding white produces a TINT
• adding black produces a SHADE

28. “ “

29. Properties of Color
• INTENSITY - the brightness of a color. Not
to be confused with lightness, which is value.
• also called “chroma” or “saturation”.

31. Adding a color’s
complement will
make that color
LESS INTENSE.

32. Color Bias Wheel

34. Shadows in black and white...

35. Shadows in black and white...
6
7-8 3
3
2-3
4-5 1
3

36. SHADOWS of COLORS are made by
adding that color’s COMPLEMENT.

39. Here, the
Pink Cube Red Cube shadowed side is
more intense than
the others. Only a
transparent
material could look
like this.

40. The cube’s SHADOWED side
must be LESS INTENSE than the
cube’s brightly-lit side.

41. “Color obtains in the light”
-Thomas Lovell
???

42. “Color obtains in the light”
-Thomas Lovell
In other words:Color becomes more
saturated when it’s in the light.

43. Vermeer

44. Jacque Louis David

47. Edward Hopper

48. Sometimes painters take this a step
beyond, and paint the shadows as the
complementary color itself...

50. yellow purple

52. yellow orange
purple
blue

53. Wayne
Theibaud

54. Sometimes color
reflects from one object
onto another...

55. Reflected color...

56. Bonnard

57. Bonnard

58. SIMULTANEOUS
CONTRAST
when the color’s
complement is placed
next to the color, it will
look more intense.

60. Bonnard

61. Other kinds of simultaneous contrast...

62. Other kinds of simultaneous contrast...
VALUE - a color will appear darker in value on a
light ground and lighter on a dark ground

63. Other kinds of simultaneous contrast...

64. Other kinds of simultaneous contrast...
INTENSITY - A color will appear more intense on a
more neutral ground and grayer on a very intense
ground

65. Other kinds of simultaneous contrast...

66. Other kinds of simultaneous contrast...
HUE - Orange will look more orange on a field of
red and more red on a field of yellow.

67. Josef Albers - Homage to the Square

68. Victor Vasarely

69. Properties of Color
• HUE
• VALUE
• INTENSITY (or or saturation)